Button.



No. 679,052. Patented My 23, l90l. w. ome", In.

BUTTONV (Application filed May 21, 1901'.)

(No Model.)

' INVENTOR? wiLLiAri Hoiimcm a'k H i V I6 5 u .20 BY 5 7M F'IQJQ C ATTORNE m: uanms PEYERS ca. PHOYO-LITNO wAsumomn. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEIcE.

WILLIAM HORNICH, JR., OF VAILSBURG, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RUDOLPH LIEBMANN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 679,052, dated July 23, 1901.

Application filed May 21, 1901. Serial No- 61,228. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HORNICH, Jr. a citizen of the United States, residing at Vailsburg, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buttons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference to buttons and analogous devices designed more especially to be attached to ladies garments by means of needle and thread; and the invention refers more particularly to that class of buttons which are provided with an interior support or filling incased in an outer covering of silk or other fabric of a similar nature.

Heretofore silk-covered buttons have been made by spinning or weaving the outer fabric covering directly upon and around an inner filling of wood provided with a tubularperforation, through which the thread is passed for sewing or fastening the button upon a garment.

In my present invention I intend to construct a button comprising in its construction the. employment of a sheet-metal shell having an opening or perforation in its upper surface, said shell being covered with a piece of previously-woven fabric,having a portion thereof arranged in a bunch and forced into the said opening in said metal shell and held therein, substantially in the manner to be hereinafter fully set forth.

Furthermore, it is my object to construct a button of the character hereinafter fully specified which comprises a metal shell having an opening or perforation in its upper surface, a covering of silk or other fabric, previously woven, arranged upon said shell, and a back-plate, covered with another piece of fabric, all of said parts being readily assembled and closed together in dies or other suitable machinery for the purpose of producing the finished button. The said shell is provided in the top with said opening or perforation mainly for the purpose of holding a bunch of the fabric covering therein, the said opening, however, also being employed for the insertion of the needle and thread when the button is made with a backplate provided with a correspondingly-arranged hole or perforation.

The principal objects of this invention, therefore, are to provide a neatly-covered button of the character hereinabove speci fied, to simplify and reduce the cost of construction, to secure the parts together more effectually, and to dispense with the necessity of weaving the silk or other covering directly upon an inner filling of Wood, as heretofore.

Other objects are to provide a silk or other fabric covered button having a perforated shell in which a portion of the said covering is arranged and held, and, furthermore, to

, provide a fabric-covered button comprising a perforated metal shell and a back-plate,which back-plate may or may not be provided with a perforation or hole, both said shell and back-plate being covered with pieces of previously-woven fabric, the arrangements and constructions of the parts being such that the button can be fastened upon a garment by sewing directly through the perforations in the shell and in the back-plate or by sewing directly through a pucker formed in the fabric covering of the said back-plate when said back-plate is not provided with a hole or perforation.

With these several objects hereinabove stated in view and with other advantages secured and hereinafter more particularly referred to, this invention consists in the novel button and in the novel arrangements and combinations of the parts thereof, all of which will be fully described in the following specification and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a button embodying the principles of this invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the button. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section of the button; and Figs. 5 and -6 are plan views of the metallic shell and the metallic back-plate, respectively,

both said shell and said back-plate being provided with centrally-disposed holes or perforations. Fig. 7 is a plan View of thepiece of woven or other piece of fabric employed as a covering for the metallic shell of the button, and Fig.- 8 is a similar view of the piece of fabric used as a covering for the back-plate. Fig. 9 is a vertical cross-section of a button in which the metallic back-plate is made without the central hole or perforation. Fig. 10 is a central vertical cross-section of a button embodying the leading features of this invention, inwhich the back-plate is made from a piece of cardboard provided with a central hole or perforation; and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the said back-plate employed in the construction represented in said Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a vertical cross-section of a button made according to my invention, but in which the central hole or perforation in the cardboard back-plate is dispensed with.

Similar numerals of reference are employed in all of the said above-described views to indicate corresponding parts.

In the said drawings, 1 represents the complete button, and 2 indicates the metal shell, which is preferably made in the manner of a truncated cone, being formed at the top with an in wardly-extending and preferably curved member, as 3, providing a central hole or opening 4 in the top or upper surface of said shell 2, as illustrated. The lower marginal edge of the said shell 2 is formed with an inwardly-extending annular head 5, as clearly illustrated. Incasing the said shell 2 is a piece of fabric 6, such as a piece of woven silk or other light and ornamental fabric, as indicated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. This piece of fabric is arranged in such a manner upon the said shell 2 that a part 7 of the fabric will inclose the beadlike edge of the curved member 3, with the central portion 8 of the fabric 6 extending into the hole or opening 4 and held and bunched in the said hole or perforation 4 with the parts 9 of said central portion or bu nch 8 in positively locked or held engagement with the marginal edge 10 of the said member 3, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 4, 9, 10, and 12 of the drawings. The marginal portion 1l,which surrounds the edge 2 of said piece of fabric (5 and which is of a circular configuration in outline, asindicated in said Fig. 7, is arranged about the lower marginal head 5 of the shell 2, so as toextend into the interior of said shell, as shown.

In the construction of button represented in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, a back-plate 13,made of sheet metal or any other suitable material, is employed, said back-plate being formed with a centrally-disposed hole or perforation 1.4 and having an annular and inwardly-projecting marginal rim 15. Placed against the outer surface of the said back-plate 13, so as to cover the said opening or hole 14 in said plate 13, is a fabric backing 15, which is usually made from a cheaper and a stronger material than the fabric covering 6, which incloses the metal shell 2. This backing 16 is usually a circular piece of burlap, as represented in Fig. 8 of the drawings, having its marginal edge 17 arranged around and against the outer cylindrical surface of the said inwardlyprojecting rim 15 of the back-plate 13, as represented in Fig. 4. When the various parts of the button have been properly assembled by means of the proper dies or other tools, the marginal bead 5 of the shell 2, the marginal edge 12 of the fabric covering 6, the rim 15 of the back-plate 13, and the surrounding marginal edge 17 of the backing 16 are all brought in a firmly'locked or holding engagement, and a complete button is the result. As shown, the central portion of the backing 16 is usually left with a slight pucker 18.

From an inspection more especially of Figs. 2 and 4 it will be seen that the button can be easily attached to a garment by passing the needle and thread into and through the bunch 8 of the covering or fabric 6, arranged in the hole or opening in the shell 2, and through the hole or opening 14 in the back-plate 13, and finally through the pucker 18 of the backing 16, Where such backing is used, or, if desired, the button may be sewed in place upon the garment by simply passing the needle and thread in a lateral direction through the said pucker 18, as will be readily understood.

If desired, the perforation or hole 14 in the back-plate may be dispensed with, a solid backplate 19 being employed, as indicated in Fig. 9 of the drawings, in which case the button is secured upon a garment by passing the needle and thread directly and laterally through the said pucker 18.

In lieu of a metallic back-plate 13 or 19, as indicated in the respective Figs. 4and 9, a flat disk 20,0f cardboard,paper,or other plastic in aterial, may be employed, asindicated in Figs. 10 and 12, the said disk 20 being left solid, as shown in Fig. 12, or having a central hole or opening 21, as represented in Figs. 10 and 11. The maximum diameter of the said disks 20 being preferably slightly greater than the internal minimum diameter across the lower combined parts of the shell 2 and its fabriccovering, when the parts are assembled and are in their held or binding relation an outwardly-extending protuberence 22 will be formed by the compression of the said disk 20, which is is essential to the practical construction of this form of button and results in the provision of a pucker 18 in the backing 16, which covers the said disk 20.

The two forms of buttons can be secured upon a garment in the same manner hereinabove described either by passing the needle and thread through the oppositely-placed holes in the shell 2 and the disk 20 or by sewing directly through thepucker when a disk is used in which there is no central hole. In practice these fabric covered buttons are usually made very small, being-about threesixteenths or one-quarter of an inch across the maximum diameter, all the views in the accompanying drawings being greatly exaggerated; but of course it will be understood that I do not limit my invention to the particular sizes mentioned, and I may make the button larger or smaller, according to the demands of the trade.

It will also be evident that various changes may be made in the different arrangements and combinations of the parts comprising my novel form of button without departing from the scope of this invention. Hence I do not limit my present invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the various parts, as herein described and as illustrated in the drawings, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the various parts of the button.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A buttom comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, and a lower and inwardly-extending binding edge, a back-plate, a fabric backing arranged over said back-plate, said back-plate and its backing being held in position by the binding edge of said shell, and a fabric covering incasing said shell, having its marginal edge arranged over the binding edge of said shell and held in position between said edge and the back-plate and its backing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, and a lower and inwardly-extending binding edge,a back-plate having a centrally-arranged opening in alinement with the opening in said shell, a fabric backing arranged over said back-plate, said back-plate and its backing being held in position by the binding edge of said shell, and a fabric covering incasing said shell, having its marginal edge arranged over the binding edge of said shell and held in position between said edge and the back-plate and its backing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, a back-plate, and a fabric covering incasing said shell and formed with abunch extending into said opening in said shell and held by the edge of that part of the shell which surrounds said opening, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. A button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, and an inwardly-extending bead, a back-plate clamped in position by said bead, and a fabric covering incasing said shell and formed with a bunch extending into said opening in said shell and held by the edge of that part of the shell which surrounds said opening, and said covering having its marginal edge arranged over said bead and held in position between said bead and the back-plate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The herein-described button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, and a lower and inwardlyextending clamping-bead, a back-plate having an inwardly-extending marginal shoulder, a fabric backing arranged over said backplate and said marginal shoulder, said marginal shoulder of said back-plate and that portion of the fabric backing which is arranged over said shoulder being held in position by said clamping-bead of the shell, and a fabric covering incasing said shell, having its marginal edge arranged over said clamping-bead and held in position between said bead and the marginal shoulder of said backplate and its backing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The herein-described button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an opening in its upper surface, and a lower and inwardlyextending clamping-bead, a back-plate havin g an inwardly-extending marginal shoulder, a fabric backing arranged over said backplate and said marginal shoulder, said backplate having a centrally-arranged opening in alinement with the opening in said shell, and said marginal shoulder of said back-plate and that portion of the fabric backing which is arranged over said shoulder being held in po=- sition by said clamping-bead of the shell, and a fabric covering incasing said shell, having its marginal edge arranged over said clamping-bead and held in position between said bead and the marginal shoulder of said back plate and its backing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. A button comprising a hollow shell of metal, having an openingin its upper surface, and a fabric covering incasing said shell and formed with a bunch extending into said opening in said shell and held by the edge of that part of the shell which surrounds said opening, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of May, 1901.

WILLIAM HORNIGH, J R.

WVitnesses: p

FREDK. O. FRAENTZEL, GEO. D. RICHARDS. 

